Janelle Quintans thought she was taking the easy
way out when she signed up for distance education courses at UTA. She's
happy she was wrong.

Janelle Quintans

"I soon realized the amount of work that goes into these classes,"
said Quintans, who teaches English as a Second Language and French at
North Dallas High School. "Many of the classes are set up where
students need to read assignments from peers and make comments to elaborate
and create more focused discussion. I am able to learn so much from
my peers in distance education classes because so many of them are seasoned
educators. I also feel like my peers can gain from my contributions
as a new teacher."

"I am able to learn so much from my peers in distance
education classes because so many of them are seasoned educators. I
also feel like my peers can gain from my contributions as a new teacher."

education graduate student Janelle
Quintans

Quintans, who is pursuing her master's degree
in education, is among a growing number of UTA students taking the online
route. She has already completed eight courses over the Internet. Through
UTA's Center for Distance Education, students can take a variety
of courses that wayÑfrom a required first-year course to the
entire MBA online program.

Established in 1997, the center ranks as one of the
nation's trend-setters and has won several awards for its courses
and programs.

"Last year, we were named to the Best in the
Nation list by U.S. News & World Report for three of our
online degrees," said Pete Smith, director of distance education
at UTA. "For the past several years, a number of our programs have
won national awards. The online MBA, which is a consortium of several
campuses, was actually ranked the No. 1 online MBA in the nation.

"We're the No. 1 Internet campus within
the U.T. System. Because U.T. Austin has had somewhat of a different
focus, it has been very nice for us at U.T. Arlington to be recognized."

Flexibility with service

Distance education courses use the traditional admission process and
semester time frame, but students can work at their own pace as long
as they finish by the end of the semester.

"What we stress is not the distance in distance education, but
the flexibility," Dr. Smith said. "We know that folks
have busy lives, family commitments and so on. What we try to do is
bring them customization and flexibility so they can do this on their
own time and at their own pace."

Grant Hahn, a drama teacher at Jackson Middle School in Grand Prairie,
completed his teacher certification by taking his final UTA course through
the Internet. "The biggest help to me was being able to complete
the work at my own pace, but it was still very challenging,"
he said.

Ann Accas, speech teacher and forensics coach at Grapevine High School,
took Reading 5326 via the Internet. "I liked the flexibility
of getting online at any hour, but I'm not sure online classes
are for everyone. You have to be self-motivated. There are deadlines
just like in any other class."

"So many schools now have online courses," he said. "But
I think UTA is a step ahead, from the first telephone call to the admissions
process to registration to technical support in case you have trouble
along the way. We provide the total online experience."

Suzanne Beckett heads the support department, which works to meet the
special needs of distance education students. "We provide phone
and e-mail support for both faculty and students, answering questions
ranging from technical aspects of the program to, 'How do I pay
my fees?' "

Fostering an electronic environment

great
programs

The online MBA degree program offered by UTA and eight
other
universities in the
U.T. System was named the best in the nation in 2001 by the U.S.
Distance Learning Association.

--

U.S. News & World Report ranked three UTA online
programs among the nation's best in its 2001 "Best of the
Online Graduate Programs" edition. The online MBA was Texas'
only
professionally accredited program selected. Likewise, the School
of Education's master
of education in curriculum and instruction was the state's only
selection among graduate
education programs.
Also recognized was the College of Engineering's online graduate
program.

UTA and the U.T. System offer a series of online agreements. UTA is
the only campus that offers the master of education degree in curriculum
and instruction. The master of science degrees in electrical engineering
and computer science are offered at UTA and U.T. Dallas. UTA participates
in the U.T. System MBA online program and is the lead campus in the
system's criminology and criminal justice online bachelor's
degree. In all, UTA offers 10 degrees that can be completed entirely
online.

Dr. Michael Moore, UTA assistant vice president for academic affairs
and professor of political science, is teaching his 1,000th distance
education student this fall.

"Perhaps the greatest challenge in my distance education courses
is that the student is dealing with different material on any given
day since the course is self-paced," Dr. Moore said. "Students
are accessing the course 24 hours a day, and they will e-mail the instructor
at all hours of the day and come to expect a response at all hours of
the day. You find yourself checking your e-mail all the time.

"We are, in many ways, providing education to folks who could
not otherwise work on their college degree. That is very important and
very satisfying. I've had students in Austin, El Paso, Germany,
Korea and a Marine stationed on a ship."

According to UTA enrollment figures, 1,022 students were taking courses
via the Internet in fall 2001. That figure rose to 1,406 in the past
spring semester.

Muriel Oaks, dean of extended university services at Washington State
University, was particularly impressed with the UTA and U.T. System
program.

"There are institutions and consortia across the country that
are now backing out of their distance education activities because they
couldn't make a go of it," Dr. Oaks said. "The
fact that the U.T. Arlington distance education enrollments are on a
significant upswing is proof that they are doing things the right way."

The Internet is just one of the ways that the Center for Distance Education
is growing. Courses are also available through video-conferencing classes,
two-way video/audio classes and taped classes.

"The phrase we have around here is 'e-everything,' " Dr.
Smith said. "We try to make everything available in digital format.
That's our goal, e-everything."